Minimal till gardening

[kenny_j]

Hello all, haven't been here in a long while, thought I'd stop in and share some photos of the way I garden today. Been toying for several years now with minimal till, and coming up with plans to not defeat the weed problem, but to live with it, and enjoy the benefits of biodiversity. I'll try to post a link to my Flickr album, if possible. I took these pics and wrote up descriptions of what my methods were, for a friend. So I figured some here might find it useful. So click on the link or pic and scroll right thru the pics, and scroll down to read my comments on each. Still refining and trying new things every year. I'll add some new pics later as I take them. https://www.flickr.com/photos/charts...7668897315847/

[Nan_PA_6b]

Looks good! I've gone no-till recently. Dumping compost and dead leaves and using garden cloth. I notice you've got some light-colored garden cloth. I bought white cloth because I've got a lot of shade. This fall I'm trying a cover crop.

Nan

[SQWIBB]

Ditto on the Biodiversity... Doing the same here, no till, using yard trimmings, cut weeds, inter planting with cover crops, oregano, strawberry plants, parsley, chives, basil, cilantro, dill ect... to control weeds.

If weeds sprout I let them go and will pull on occasion. Trying to put back more than I take out.



Weeds that flowered are dumped in a bucket of rain water for up to a week or so then dumped back in the garden.

Just let this guy get to about 5' tall, once it started to show possibility of flowering, it became mulch. (Just think of all the nutrients this guy pulled from deep in the soil)

[JRinPA]

Looks a lot like my garden spots, lots of CRW, rebar, plastic mulch or weed cloth. I fork deeply but try not till, and then pile on the compost. I put my basil in right between the tomatoes. For staples I've been using the watersprout branches I clip off the pear tree in February. Snap, snap, break - free bio staple.

This year with the butternut I tried some CRW on their sides, like 5 ft long hoops. Looked great at first but it sure is hard to find the squash bugs and their eggs. I think I like butternut on the vertical panels, better. I did that a few years back the first time I grew it. I didn't have clips like that at the time but weaving and tying worked. Next year it will be back to that, I believe.


Your sungolds look about a week ahead of mine...I'm hoping for some color this weekend. Looks great!

[brownrexx]

My soil test results are showing "above optimum" for phosphate, potash, magnesium and calcium pH is ok at 6.8 in the one garden but creeping up in the other one that gets more compost, pH in that garden is 7.2

Penn State's Ag lab people tell me that using too much compost can cause your nutrient levels to become "above optimum" and this can be compounded if you are also adding other fertilizers. They say that too many nutrients can be as bad as too few.

I don't have raised beds and I only till once a year in the fall and then mulch with straw or grass clippings. I have stopped adding compost to the garden this year to see if I can get the nutrient levels to come down. I will be using my compost around my fruit trees this year.

[Spike2]

Love the pictures!

[kenny_j]

Thanx to all the replies. I still till, but only where the row will be. Like the idea of adding more compost, but don't feel like spending the money to buy it. I compost my own stuff, but it doesn't go far. Eating sungolds and kimberleys. Pink Berkley tie dye should be the first large ready, another week or 2.

[Salsacharley]

I stretch my compost by making compost tea. I'm a true believer in compost tea. You only need a couple of cups of compost to make a 5 gal brew of compost tea. I add mycorrhizal fungi to the tea.

[kenny_j]

funny you should mention the tea. I brewed my first batch ever and will apply it in about half an hour. I bought an expensive premade packet from the local hydroponic store. Enough for the rest of this year. Next year I'll make my own recipe.